House Republican leaders said they believe they turned a corner by the end of last week, quashing opposition to the Wisconsin Republican’s 2015 budget proposal and laying the groundwork to clear one of the last major pieces of legislation before the midterm election.

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said his “only problem” is that three House Republicans from Georgia are battling one another in a Senate primary and will not vote for the budget.

“I predict a win,” McCarthy told POLITICO.

For a time last week, Ryan’s budget encountered problems as conservatives threatened to oppose the proposal to express frustration about a controversial parliamentary maneuver GOP leadership deployed to pass the “doc fix.” Though it seems that leadership has minimized the opposition, Republicans privately concede that they’ll most likely pass the 2015 budget by the slimmest margin in their four years in power.

“Look, this is all the same issues that came up in past years,” said Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), the chief deputy majority whip. “This is now viewed as something that identifies who we are. It’s strongly identified with [House Republicans]. It’ll pass.”

Ryan’s plan would cut $5 trillion in federal spending over the next decade, bringing the budget into balance by 2024, although Democrats have asserted the GOP claim is off by tens of billions of dollars.

A large portion of the savings Ryan’s budget projects comes from reducing health care coverage and subsidies under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. An additional $700 billion-plus in savings comes from slashing Medicaid and other health care programs, while hundreds of billions in additional cuts come from food stamps, education and farm programs.

Ryan would cut Obamacare benefits but retain its tax increases and reductions in payments to providers. It would also turn Medicare into a voucher program — Republicans call it “premium support” — for those who enroll in the program beginning in 2024.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his fellow Republicans have passed Ryan budgets three times since taking over the House in 2010, but it is a tougher vote this year because lower revenue forecasts have made the cuts needed to eliminate the deficit that much tougher to enact.

House Democrats will again unite in opposing the bill this year, predicted Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), which means Republicans will have to pass it on their own. “No, we’re not going to lose anybody,” Hoyer said in an interview.

Last year, 10 Republicans voted against the Ryan budget. Right now, there are 233 Republicans serving in the House; 217 votes will be needed to pass the resolution.

Since only GOP lawmakers will back the Ryan plan, the vote gives outsize influence to hard-liners inside the party. So far, they seem to be sticking with Ryan and Boehner.

“I’d like to have it balanced in nine instead of 10, because that’s what we said last year,” said Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who said he is undecided. “But it’s a lot better than 26 years, and so I recognize Republicans need to pass a budget. You can’t bring it to the floor and let it fail. We’d hand this agenda to the other side.”

While Democrats say the 2015 budget is a political albatross, Republicans consider it a victory. “Running out the clock” has become a favorite phrase within House Republican circles.